US Open - Day Twelve - Men's Semifinals

We are midway through the second semifinal and we do not even have a thread up for today's matches - and only a handful contributions appened at the tail end of yesterday's thread.  Yikes.

Djoko won easily, as expected.  Nishi seemed to be cramping while down 1:4 when I got home 15 minutes ago, but has since broken Stan's serve so we are back on serve.  They are closing the roof now so presumably it must have started raining.

If Nishi is genuinely cramping - as opposed to just faking it - it would be better if he lost today. We do not want knackered Nishi play Nole in the final and maybe retire midway through.

As usual, I am finding myself rooting for Stan.  I also think he would have a better chance against Djoko than Nishi would - even a fit Nishi.  Nole would be quite heavy favorite against either of them, and at the same time both of them would have some hope against him, so there is not too much between them in that regard.  But I think Stan has managed to consistently bring his best - or near best - against Nole in slams and that is usually good enough to keep it close.  Nishi at his best could be similarly competitive, but I suspect Nishi would be more likely to underperform on Sunday.

Stan breaks and takes the third set. Hopefully he can win the fourth quickly, get some good rest tomorrow and we have a proper match on Sunday.

Two love games, and Stan is up 2:0. Keep it up.

Nishi breaks back - 3:2.

Stan breaks again - 4:2. Hopefully he can finish it off quickly now.

Stan wins. Good. Let's hope for a competitive Sunday.

Congrats to Stan the Man (and Magnus Norman) on another GS final.

Nishikori - well played. (ran out of gas in the tank )

Main talking point seems to be Monfils tactics against Djoko which have led to criticism, among others, from Johnny Mac. The Frenchman has defended himself, saying he was trying although some seem to think he wasn't.
Reckon Stan can, at the very least, give Djoko a reasonable match. The Swiss is 2-0 in GS finals. To think it was only a few days ago that he was MP down to Dan Evans.

Djokovic won in four sets but was it without question marks about where he is at? Not sure - he still looks more vulnerable than in the first half of the year. I never saw either semi but followed the scores on the US Open app and was sure it was to be a straight setter when Novak was two sets and a break up but then a blip and Monfils took the third set even though he was slated for his level of play/effort.

In the other semi (likewise I ever saw) but Nishi's was evidently softened up by the draining clash against Murray and Stan completed a win in four sets but to be fair to Stan he is the more accomplished of the two at these stages of slams.

As for the final well it could go either way. I have a sneaky feeling Stan will win in five sets.

After listening to the semi-finals I have to say Stan Wawrinka is a strong favourite for the final.  As long as Wawrinka doesn't get injured or suffer a mental breakdown he should be favourite.  Monfils decided to try different tactics that got him to the semi-final and basically lost before he started.  He said he felt he had to try something different because he had lost the past 12 encounters with Djokovic.  What a lunatic.  Clearly Monfils was playing well - he had reached his first grand slam semi-final since 2008, and clearly there were doubts of Djokovics fitness leading into the match.  But no he tried a new tactic which was to play a dead possum that lost him the first five games and he never was able to get himself out of the hole he created for himself right from the beginning.  He should have stuck to the game that got him to the semi-final.

Thoughts:  1) Murray should have won this tournament but loss of mental composure effectively lost him the quarter final.  2) Federer if fit would have likely beaten everybody - apart from maybe Wawrinka (or Murray).  3) I think Djokovic may have abused the medical time out rule.  It seemed like he was getting shoulder massages to reduce cramping.

Monfils (and Djokovic) were both struggling under the heat/humidity, while Wawrinka/Nishikori was in slightly better conditions.

Monfils had physical issues.

laverfan wrote:Monfils (and Djokovic) were both struggling under the heat/humidity, while Wawrinka/Nishikori was in slightly better conditions.

Monfils had physical issues.

No Monfils had mental issues.  He started playing rubbish and lethargic from the get go.  Monfils said he had to try something different.  He said he tried to get into the mind of Djokovic and he reckoned it would have worked, except he played rubbish ... with his new strategy (taking the pace off the ball, acting unpredictably and slow during rallies) his game fell away - he wasn't able to carry out the strategy.   Anyway that is what he said.  The BBC radio commentators believed he was suffering from food poisoning. They thought he should have been given a warning by the tournament director - a threat of disqualification.   John McEnroe said Monfils was acting unprofessionally as it seemed like Monfils wasn't trying.  Monfils hadn't dropped a set reaching the semi-final.  Then he started the match as if he was trying to throw the match.